Plain Dealer victim of bad information from Brady Campaign?

Editor's Note: The following information has been distributed as a press release to Ohio media outlets in response to the information contained in the Cleveland Plain Dealer article “In Ohio it's really easy to buy a gun”.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

It appears that the Plain Dealer’s Terry Oblander relied on incorrect information from the Brady Campaign in his April 18 piece “In Ohio it's really easy to buy a gun.” The Brady’s “report cards” are chocked with information that is just plain false in many cases, severely misleading in others. We send this information to you today so that you will not look as foolish as the Plain Dealer did in publishing outright inaccurate information.

Click 'Read More' for the entire press release.

From the current Brady card on Ohio, with their information and the accurate information.

Must handguns be ballistic fingerprinted prior to sale? No. (Not an Ohio requirement, but any new gun sold in Ohio for the past 3 years has already been fingerprinted and has the sample cartridge case included with the firearm. Because Ohio does not duplicate this law does not mean it is not being done. Walk into any gun store and ask to see a new Glock in a case if you doubt us. We are sure you will see the ballistic fingerprint evidence.)

Are gun owners held accountable for leaving guns accessible to kids? No. (Baloney. Gun owners are routinely sued or prosecuted for such acts. Your news organization has likely reported on such cases. Just because there is no statute imposing strict liability does not mean that gun owners are not held liable in case law.)

Are minors restricted from possessing guns? No. (Well, we are completely at a loss as to what R.C. 2923.211 and R.C. 2923.21 accomplish. If minors are not allowed to purchase firearms, and adults are not allowed to furnish minors with firearms, in what way is Ohio not restricting this? If minors may not buy firearms, and no person may furnish a minor with a firearm, how does the minor legally get the firearm? We’re dying to know. Ask the Brady folks and let us know.)

May police maintain gun sale records? No. (What were Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus et al doing for all of those years they had gun owner ID card records, gun registration records, purchase permits? Beyond that, there is no such thing as a “gun sale record” to maintain, so saying the police may not maintain records that do not exist in the first place is quite dishonest. Ohio also does not maintain Jackalope breeding records.)

Are there consumer safety standards on guns? No. (Give us a break. Of course there are consumer safety standards, those imposed at the national level. Ohio does not have separate consumer safety standards for just about any consumer product sold today. What they really mean is “Ohio hasn’t let us pass ‘consumer safety standards’ that are actually backdoors to allow junk lawsuits and result in de facto gun bans.)

Are there limitations on assault weapons and magazines? No. (Yes. See R.C. 2923.11(E). We think the Brady folks mean “there aren’t limitations we agree with….”)

Do state police perform a background check in addition to federal NICS check? No. (Why should they? NICS checks the same local records that the local police could check. People are routinely denied purchases in Ohio based upon local record convictions. Maybe they would like some whine with their Red Herring.)

Must locking devices be sold with guns? Partial. (This is blatantly intended to mislead. Federal law already requires any FFL to provide a gun lock with any gun transaction. In addition, Ohio requires the FFL to offer a gun lock at the time of sale. See R.C. 2923.25. This is like complaining that Ohio law does not require you to pay your Federal Income Taxes on April 15th. Forgive us for not being alarmed about Ohio not requiring that which the Federal Government already does.)

Are all guns registered with law enforcement? No. (It worked for Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini.....)

Are background checks required on 'private' gun sales? No. (In Ohio it is a felony to sell a gun to someone who may not legally own a gun. See R.C. 2923.20(A)(1). While not a NICS check, it is very strong incentive for anyone involved in a gun sale to make sure the other person is legal to own. Sell a gun to a scoundrel, go to prison. Short of giving private citizens access to law enforcement databases, what the Brady people really are objecting to is that citizens may conduct firearm transactions without Big Brother having a record of it and “registering” it so that they will have complete records when it comes time to ban guns. For a long time in the Stalin years Russian peasants “oiled their gardens.”)

Is safety training required for handgun buyers? No. (Is fact checking required for the Plain Dealer? Apparently not.)

Don’t be swindled by the Brady people like the Plain Dealer has. Fact check their preposterous assertions. Ask questions, consult both sides. We at Buckeye Firearms Association always strive to give factual information, and we try to be very forthright when we are editorializing. We will give you references to original materials, such as state or federal statutes. You don’t have to take our word for it. We would appreciate you at least asking.

For any journalists working on “How easy it is to buy a gun” types of stories, we will gladly provide you real life examples of how Ohio is harder than most states to buy a gun.